The NBA's lifetime ban of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has put the NFL into the crosshairs of Congress — again.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., co-chair of the House Native American Caucus, have called on the NFL to follow the NBA's anti-racism footsteps and push Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder to change his team's name.

"For far too long the NFL has been sitting on its hands, doing nothing while an entire population of Americans has been denigrated,'' Reid said, according to a transcript of his prepared remarks. "I say to Commissioner Roger Goodell, it is time to act. Remove this hateful term from your league's vocabulary. Follow the NBA's example and rid the league of bigotry and racism. Your fans will support it.''

McCollum, who led a group of congressional colleagues who asked Goodell last year to change the name, added in a statement:

"It is my hope that the National Football League and its owners will follow suit and do everything in their power to ensure that the racist name of their Washington franchise is changed. The NFL and its owners have the ability to influence that change. I call on them to follow the lead of the NBA and use that ability to force a name change for their Washington franchise."

Reid cited the change of the name of the NBA's Washington Bullets to Wizards in 1997 by late owner Abe Pollin — and used the team's advance in the playoffs as another example the NFL could follow.

"The American people support the Wizards, people in the D.C. metropolitan area — Wizards is a good name,'' Reid said. "Don't you think Daniel Snyder can come up with a name? it should be easy ... Anything they come up with would be better than the Washington team name they have now.''